Cultureshark Remembers Dusty Rhodes

R.I.P. Dusty Rhodes, "The American Dream," one of pro wrestling's true immortals who somehow died today at only 69 years old. As a rabid wrestling fan growing up, I thought the Dream embodied everything that I loved and everything that I hated about the sport (Yeah, of course, I knew, but I called it a "sport," not "sports entertainment." As an adult I appreciated him so much more as a character, and now I think he just embodied wrestling, period.

Let me get this out of the way: When I first got the Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA programming in my area, I always rooted against him. Always. I was entertained by his interviews, but I resented his big shot status in the promotion and thought it killed my suspension of disbelief to see him cleaning house on so many superior athletes.

I was a Ric Flair guy, a Four Horsemen guy, and I couldn't stand seeing Flair get whipped by him. One of the most ridiculous things ever was his "Bionic Elbow," a simple elbow smash that usually showed little impact...or even effort. Worst of all was seeing the Horsemen or pretty much any other heel in the company lining up to take that Bionic Elbow.

Now, of course, I watch Dusty Rhodes footage and think that move kicks ass.  And the fact that I wanted him to lose every match doesn't mean he didn't give me a lot of great memories. Dusty was an integral part of many of the fun angles I enjoyed on SuperStation TBS back in the 1980s--the spike in the eye from the Road Warriors, his "Superpowers" team with Nikita Koloff after Magnum T.A.'s car accident, the Midnight Rider...

Yeah, the whole "wrestler loses a match and has to leave town, then comes back under a mask" gimmick is an old one, but I ate up Dusty's "Midnight Rider" shtick. Something as ridiculous as a fat guy with a big blotch on his belly wearing a mask and claiming to be someone else IS wrestling. So is the ability to address the camera without a script, start yakking, and make everyone in the audience want to see  your match. So is showing up on all the magazines at the grocery store with blood running through your blonde hair and down your forehead. And so is--let's face  it--using your power backstage to push yourself as the top babyface in the company, even if it means glomming off some of the shine from the rising stars. Hey, that's wrestling, too.

Dusty was one of those larger-than-life characters you just couldn't resist trying to imitate. Legend had it his ridiculous--there's that word again--gimmick he got in WWF, the polka-dot-wearing "Common Man" was a joke at his expense. Well, guess what? He was so entertaining that he got over even when saddled with that costume and a middle-aged valet named Sapphire. His massive charisma was clear even on a minor show like "WCW Classics" on the old Turner South. He introduced matches and just generally seemed to be having a good time. I sure as hell had a good time watching him.

Dusty Rhodes was one of the most ridiculous wrestlers ever but also one of the most awesome, because sometimes pro wrestling is best when it's a certain kind of ridiculous. That was Dusty, and that was a big part of my youth. Time to go watch some Dusty moments., and don't be offended if I come up behind you tomorrow and hit you with a Bionic Elbow.

Shameless Self-Promotion: New ClassicFlix piece is up

It's TV Time again at ClassicFlix!

http://classicflix.com/TV-TIME-To-Be-Continued-TwoPart-Episodes-ar-167.html

TV TIME: To Be Continued - Two-Part Episodes - ClassicFlix Community

Before serialized drama became the norm in prime time television, it was a big deal to come across a two-part episode. You'd enjoy the program right up until some gripping cliffhanger unfolded, and then those momentous words "TO BE CONTINUED..." would appear on screen.Of course, some classic program…

classicflix.com

Now maybe Yahoo! gets its act together

"Community" just finished a sixth season of episodes that was artistically successful but not technologically successful. Yahoo! Screen has always been a frustrating experience. It was bad news when the company bought digital rights to the "Saturday Night Live" library because the website's confusing interface and disorganization was sure to make finding anything a frustrating task. Guess what? It was!

I thought when Yahoo! spent some money for an actual TV series and (sort of) promoted it, the website would try to put together a decent online "channel" to showcase it. In turn, the increased traffic from the high-profile acquisition would show off the new Yahoo! Screen, enabling the company to invest more in developing it. But NOOOOOOOO!!!

Instead, Yahoo! continued its half-assed approach to the channel. My naivete continued after the first couple of episodes when I saw scores of complaints about how difficult it was to stream "Community" and I assumed the issues would be fixed. Several months later, the technical issues are still there, the interface is still terrible, and I don't know if Yahoo! has done anything to improve the situation.

I watched the series on the Roku version, with ad-free viewing that came at a price: Anytime I tried to fast-forward or rewind an episode, the channel would crash. Re-launching the channel would not return me to where I was in the episode. In fact, if I watched anytime after the new installment "dropped" on Tuesday, I'd probably not even get the episode, since Yahoo! Screen on Roku auto-launches to whatever it deems most "popular" at a given moment. The sad thing is, this lousy way to view the show was still probably better and more reliable than what most people  got watching directly on the website.

Now Yahoo! has acquired exclusive digital rights to an NFL game--granted, an uninteresting one, but a real regular season game--and I expect this will finally improve things. Sony and Dan Harmon and everyone else involved with "Community" may not have cared enough to put heat on Yahoo! to get its act together, but the NFL doesn't want any part of Amateur Hour. It's possible that Yahoo! bypasses its Screen thing and streams this game on its front page somehow, but I believe the pressure of the National Football League, which controls everything down to the socks its players wear on the field, will make Yahoo! put some effort into making a watchable "tv-like" facsimile available.

I was excited about a possible seventh season of "Community," but not so much if it would be on Yahoo! Now I'm more optimistic, and I hope Yahoo! has a few bucks left over to retain at least some of the cast members and give us another batch of episodes with the Greendale crew.

Quit teasing me, Hulu!

Perhaps not everyone is as obsessive as me when it comes to checking Hulu Plus each day for new additions (note that I don't say not *anyone*, but not *everyone*), so maybe this won't irritate as many folks as it does me. But I have had it with Hulu teasing me with big pictures and screengrabs of "Seinfeld," images that make me think the show is there. Of course, it ain't available yet; it's "coming July 24," and in the meantime Hulu wants us to check out clips and promos.

I don't want clips and promos. I want full episodes! I have wanted them ever since I read that Hulu acquired streaming rights to the whole series. The initial publicity said the show was coming in June, and I assumed that meant June 1. Unfortunately I made an ass out of me and me, as I discovered weeks later when Hulu said, "Oh, yeah, 'Seinfield' will be here June 24." So I have that date imprinted in my brain, an organ which is already stunted by years of television, but I still get my hopes up each time I see this "Seinfeld" tease campaign on Hulu.

I admit it's refreshing to see such a build for a new show, but enough already! Just give us the episodes. Spend some time promoting something like "Here's Edie" or "Ernie Kovacs"? Granted, you probably spent about $999,950 less per episode, but there are probably people that don't know those shows are even on your service.

Still more shameless self-promotion: New review at ClassicFlix

If you just can't wait for the next TV Time column, I have good news for you:  My review of the brand-new VCI release of "Waterfront Volume 1" is up at ClassicFlix. Don't you dare miss it!

http://classicflix.com/Waterfront-Vol-1-Shows-the-Breezy-Life-at-Sea-r-1764.html

Waterfront, Vol. 1
By Rick Brooks

VCI's latest classic television DVD is a pleasant surprise, not just because Waterfront may be one of the most obscure programs to get a video release in 2015, but because the show is so entertaining. Airing in syndication from 1954 to 1956, this black-and-white half-hour adventure/drama may not be the most sophisticated example of early TV, but it stands out with its blend of action and lighter family-oriented elements.

Waterfront Volume 1 contains 10 of the first 14 episodes, including the debut, "The Skipper's Day." As on its recent "My Little Margie" and "I Married Joan" collections (which I review here), VCI apparently uses 16mm film prints as source (read more)

This Month in Crackle

My Journey Into Amazon Prime will resume soon, though I did not stay on past my free trial, but today I debut a new, possibly recurring, feature. The first of the month brings new movies and TV episodes to Crackle, Sony's free (but with frequent commercial interruption) streaming video on demand service.

What, you forgot Crackle existed? Hey, no shame in that. So did everybody else about a month ago when a huge controversy erupted over "The Interview," it was yanked from its theatrical run, and people speculated that it would end up on sites like YouTube, Google Play, Netflix...and almost nobody, including Sony, mentioned that Crackle existed.

Of course "The Interview" is now available on Netflix Instant Watch, but Crackle debuts its "cyberhacking thriller" this weekend. Jimmy Caan and Kevin Dillon may be no Seth Rogen and Jimmy Franco, but, hey, Sony saved something for its own site!

There are some interesting non-original films debuting today, but I warn you that many of them are only available through February. Watch 'em before they go! Don't be like me and wait till the last minute to see "Drive" when it was on Netflix, have a technical problem, and miss the last half of it. Fortunately, it's now on Crackle again.

Also here are "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II." "Hitch," and "Hot Fuzz." There's also "The Counterfeiters," which may not star Bill Murray, nor Will Smith, but it DID win an Oscar for best foreign feature. In the "legit classic" category (not an actual Crackle category, but maybe it should be) is "On the Waterfront."

The big thing I check for on Crackle each month is the assortment of 10 new "Seinfeld" episodes. February is an improvement over January in that most of these, leaning heavily towards the first few seasons, haven't been on Crackle in a while. Unfortunately, there are only 7 of them! Even if you count the two-parter (the Keith Hernandez episode) as two episodes, as Crackle usually does, that's still just 8. 8 free instead of 10 free? That's a ripoff! Outrage!

While poking around the TV section, I noticed the first season of "The Jeffersons" is there. SEE the epic adventure FROM THE BEGINNING! Speaking of that, making its Crackle debut is the immortal "T.J. Hooker," with the complete first two seasons now online.

There is also a new assortment of "Sanford and Son"s, basically the entire fifth season plus one from season 4 to make a total of 25. Just looking at the Crackle descriptions reminds you of how absurd the plots became. In "Greatest Show in Watts," one of Fred's tenants (this is when he was running the Sanford Arms boardinghouse) leaves him a elephant. So naturally Fred starts a circus. Why not, eh?

"Steinberg and Son" is a funny look at a show Fred sees that reminds him of his own life...with some obvious differences. It's been a long time since I regularly saw "Sanford" reruns, but some of these I don't remember at all. In "Sanford and Rising Son," Fred and Ah Chew  turn their living room into a Japanese restaurant. I remember Ah Chew, and he's bad enough, but opening a Japanese restaurant at Fred's? And in "The Director," Fred directs a community theater play starring George Foreman! By the way, credit screenwriter on those last two: Garry Shandling.

Yes, the ads are annoying, but the channel runs fairly smoothly since I upgraded my Roku. There's a lot going on on Crackle, even besides "Comedians with Cars." Just because Sony doesn't feel like pushing it doesn't mean you can't give it a shot.